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The Rise & Fall of America's Political Right
There is no real name for the movement that took over America six years ago and continues run it. That's part of the reason for its success. Its very vagueness makes it hard to attack. In actuality, it is not a single entity. It is made up of three main parts.
Corporatism, which is based on the belief that whatever makes money is good -- and should not be restrained.
Neo-con megalomania, which is the belief that American power is absolute, irresistible, and always good, and should therefore be used -- without restraint.And right-wing religion, which is the certainty that this movement's form of Christianity is God-commanded; therefore it should rule America and, through America, the world -- and any restraint against it is opposition to God.
To add to the confusion, this movement did not stand out on its own. Its proponents entered into the existing Republican Party and the old Goldwater-Reagan conservative movement. They brought those people along with them (roughly half the voting population) and ran for office under the guise of being Republicans and conservatives. Most of what they said they stood for was in the mainstream.
Capitalism is good. Being strong is good. Education, financial security, and trade are good. America is a good, idealistic country. It's good that America defeated its enemies in the past, like the Nazis and the Soviets, and it's a good idea that we remain capable of doing it in the future. Faith and belief in a higher power is good. We should be careful about foreign military adventures, though once we are attacked we have to be vigorous in our response and fight them over there before we have to fight them over here.
All that sounds reasonable, appealing, and familiar. What distinguishes Bushism from old-line Republicanism and reasonable conservatism is not the names on their beliefs, it's the quality of their beliefs. The beliefs of Bushism are theological. Theological thinking creates powerful and convincing rhetoric. There are two reasons for this. People with theological beliefs don't mind lying. It's for the greater good.
This has been combined with the corporate attitude toward truth: "Coke adds life!" It doesn't matter if it's true or false, or absolutely meaningless. If it moves the product, that's what you say. The result is spinning, which is more effective than straight-out lying. For years, Bush was a master of spin. If you analyze his speeches, it is exceedingly rare to find an outright lie that you can nail to the table. Yet he was able to lead his listeners to conclusions that were absolutely false.
The classic example is in his 2003 State of the Union address, in which he said, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." The substance was absolutely false. He had been told as much by the CIA. The consequences of creating a false impression were vast, tragic, and intensely stupid. Yet, by putting the opening clause on it, citing the British government -- whose intelligence service did, at one time, think there was reason to believe it -- it is not, technically, a lie. People with theological beliefs routinely lie to themselves. In their theological minds, the theory is always true. Only reality is flawed.
When the CIA stated that there was no substantive link between al-Qaeda and Iraq, Cheney disputed their claim and in effect said, "It must be true! Find intelligence that does agree, or if you're too incompetent, I'll find it myself." Bush believes that cutting taxes always increases revenues and creates jobs. Yet year after year, when the numbers came back and it didn't happen, the response was to insist on more tax cuts, because the theology says it has to happen. Listening to Bush -- and Cheney and their supporters -- is exactly like listening to a Marxist explaining away Stalin. And Mao, and the gulags, and the East German secret police, and the madness of Ceausescu.
They were a new force. They believed completely in their cause and that they should have power. They arrived cloaked in old and familiar and reassuring rhetoric, so they encountered little resistance, and conquered rapidly and thoroughly. What is astonishing is how rapidly their ideas are being revealed as bankrupt. The war in Iraq has demolished the myth of America's unlimited power. Iraq was the neo-cons' great experiment in democracy and free-market capitalism. The true believers really believed that simply by having people vote for a democratic-style government and sweeping away all restrictions on free markets, a little America would instantly emerge -- stable, friendly, prosperous, the envy of its neighbors. Instead, it created a hell on Earth. Anti-government government was exposed as bankrupt by Katrina. Prosecutor-gate is revealing, quite rapidly, how the quest for power, fueled by theological righteousness, tossed out all other virtues -- like justice, fairness, and honesty. Economists and pundits are behind the curve, but ordinary Americans get that Bush economics do not work for them. And that what's good for giant corporations is not necessarily what's good for the USA.
Religion has been a sacred cow. But the excesses of Christian power and the violent madness of Islamic fundamentalism have changed that. Now atheist books are on the best-seller list. Because it is necessary, it has become respectable to genuinely question why and how and what people believe. Theological thinking, itself, has been revealed as bankrupt. It is almost impossible to overstate how disastrous the eight years of Bush are going to turn out to be for the Republican Party and for the right. It is not entirely visible yet, but this tumble downhill is going to turn out to be a fall off a cliff.
The Democrats, and the left, have a great opportunity here. I hope they make something out of it, because those other people are dangerous idiots. If they are going to, they can't simply fall back on their old rhetoric. The world has changed. It always changes. It will keep changing. They have to come up with something new. Something that combines realism and good, hard-headed American pragmatism with ideals. Then make it sound exciting.
Larry Beinhart is the author of Wag the Dog, The Librarian, and Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin. All available at nationbooks.org
35 Comments so far
Show AllI have to agree with reaper and purvis ames. don't forget that Steny Hoyer's first act as House Majority leader was to run to K street and arrange new alliances. If we had an informed voting public, they would install third party candidates in Congress.
QUOTING: "The beliefs of Bushism are theological. Theological thinking creates powerful and convincing rhetoric. There are two reasons for this. People with theological beliefs don't mind lying. It's for the greater good."
Conjunctively, in ANTINOMINISM the self-styled or so called 'Christian' does whatever he or she wants and says 'god will make it holy', in effect making themselves equal to god. This person is not regenerated.
True conservative Christians follow PERSEVERANCE, whereby the teachings of the saint adheres to regeneration True Christians know fully God's laws and hence lives a life in conformity with these laws to the best of their ability. Since we are not perfect however there is error, stumbling and falling along the way, and at times just plain stupidity. But always, the regenerated Christian will persevere through the grace of Jesus Christ.
However, MOST of what passes for 'CHRISTIANITY' is 'ANTINOMINISM'. Another word for it is LAWLESSNESS....
Herein lies the trouble for America; it has been run by a ANTINOMINIST nut case called BUSH & Co....
Although, Bush as UNINTELLIGENT as he is, would not realise these factual theological dilemmas nor appreciate the historical origins of his own screwed up beliefs!!!!!!
Alternatively, Bushes Christian facade of acceptability was another of many FRAUDS perpetrated on the electorate....
I partly agree with Reaper, but I will take a stand by the military and say that they are as much pawns as the rest of us. There are many creeps (e.g. Petreus and other Administration echo-chambers) within the military, but in general, members of the armed services do serve with honor and distinction. However, they are manipulated like the rest of us by Big Business.
"It is almost impossible to overstate how disastrous the eight years of Bush are going to turn out to be for the Republican Party and for the right. It is not entirely visible yet, but this tumble downhill is going to turn out to be a fall off a cliff."
Forget feeling sorry for the GOP. The 8 years of bush are going to be disastrous for this entire nation. Bush has done more damage to this country than Al Quaida could ever have hoped/imagined to do. The bush-years will go down in history as the end of the "American Century" and the beginning of a long, steep, painfull slide down. 50 years from now the US will be what Argentina is now: a has been, stable and rich and powerful in the past, poor and shaky now.
Beinhart has written what sounds like a summary of a compelling inquiry, and I appreciate his observations.
However, I caution againt "picking a side." I realize that the Democrats have a "great opportunity" here, but let's not look at this from a Democratic perspective. We should hold up each politial "side" to the same level of scrutiny, and rise above the whole political game, acting as judges in a dispute and not one of the opposing parties.
In the past few days I've read several articles by Larry Beinhart, and I'd just like to say how very wonderful they always are. Thanks, Larry, for your insights and fine writing.
Save us from the Republicrats and Dempublicans..VOTE GREEN
kivals, if you knew anything about Dennis Kucinich you wouldn't have said that. When he was mayor of Cleveland he made a promise not to sell the municipal power company to a private company. The bank holding Cleveland's note made a deal with the company to force him to sell or put the city into default. He knew if he didn't go along with it his political career would be destroyed. He refused to back down, got thrown out of office and disappeared for 15 years. Some auditor finally figured out he had saved the city of Cleveland $100 million over 10 years at the cost of his career and when the word got out, they called him and asked him to come back and run for Congress representing their district. He's a progressive that even Republicans vote for. He's a hero in Cleveland, and can be counted on to do the right thing no matter what it may cost him.
I really don't know enough about Mike Gravel to say one way or the other, but he didn't raise his hand in the degbate when Dennis asked who would support impeaching Cheney.
I know Nancy is in a difficult position. Her majority is thin, Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans aren't cooperating with the majority party. As Molly Ivins said, trying to get the Democrats to agree on amything is like trying to herd a roomful of cats in the same direction. The best way to help her is to keep sending the message of what the constituents really want. And to let all of them know their jobs depend on representing what we want.
Uh, Larry, are you talking about the Democratics running the current dog and pony show in Congress? They not only gave the Chimp more money than he even asked for, they made any withdrawal timetable non-binding suggestions. His veto was pure theatre and I'm sure the whole fascist lot of them will soon come to some cozy accommodation.
"Religion has been a sacred cow. But the excesses of Christian power and the violent madness of Islamic fundamentalism have changed that"
Don't forget AIPAC.
The only way the democrats are going to help this country through change is if the American public throws all the current rotten crop of democratic leaders in office out. The democrats need new leaders that have some back bone till then nothing changes.
Bu$h and the Repugs are going down because everyone hates a loser, and the war was lost from the first lie. Even Repugs don't think that soldiers should die for a lie. If the Democrats do their job they'll fight like hell to expose the corruption endemic to a fascist administration that uses God to hide the deep evil of torture, murder, imprisonment that hearkens back to the religious inquisitions of Europe.
I think the Republican party is beginning to split. "Libertarian" thinking is gaining traction. I saw pictures of Republicans protesting "Iraq = Pork".
Instead of realizing that progressives on the left were always right, they transform reality to fit their ideology. Under this new reality, the U.N. is still a leftist conspiracy, but the "globalizers" are forcing American tax-payers to subsidize them, destroying the "free-market." If only the free-market was allowed in everywhere, we'd all be saved from rampant 'government spending.'
It's interesting, but it's also troubling. On the one hand they don't want any more government hand-outs for Iraq contractors or old energy(which is good), but on the other hand they want to give complete control and power to the corporations that are destroying America in the first place (which is bad).
Watch out for Republican grassroots like "Ron Paul" in the future. He supports immediate withdrawal from Iraq and reduced military spending. Ideas like that might eventually threaten Republican-establishment thinking, just like green-party ideas threaten the Democrat-establishment. Whatever the case... if a candidate is not receiving corporate money, and corporations don't support him (like Ron Paul), even if he thinks that volcanoes produce more global warming emissions than humans (ridiculous but that's what he thinks), he wouldn't be as bad as the bought-off establishment Democrats like Hillary or Lieberman. At least he's serious about leaving Iraq.
I think bandido is right: the Repugnicans are going down because the war is, was, and forever shall be lost. But most people are opposed to the Bush Reich and the war for that reason: we are not "winning." The underlying premise of a preemptive war, as well as all that implies with respect to aggressive expansionist imperialist wars in the future, has never been challenged. Nothing fundamental has really changed, otherwise where is the outcry against Guantanamo, the secret prisons, the torture, the corruption, the deportations of "illegal immigrants," the mainstreaming of hatemongers like Rush Limbaugh. The basic support for fascism American style is still there. This is just a temporary setback.
Let the Democrats take over for a few years, let them pull out of Iraq (maybe, although we do have that palatial embassy in the Green Zone and four permanent bases that would be a shame to waste)and take the blame for "losing," then look out. The Repugnicans will be back with a vengeance with a new invigorated support base of nativists and other neo nazis and with an updated list of "enemies" they won't hesitate to go after.
Organized religion is a scourge on society. You must be brainwashed into believing that some book written by men 200 years after the fact is somehow the ONLY path to god? It sounds the same no matter what religion you want to call it, they are all fundamentalist. The so called Christians will get us long before some third rate, third worlds crazes!
Man, you people who scorn the Dems are showing a fascist streak yourselves. If the slow, tedious, compromising process of parliamentary democracy isn't giving you enough instant gratification, then go ask the Joint Chiefs to stage a coup'de'tat, arrest the criminals in the White House and impose marital law until we can hold new elections. That got Russia out of WWI in a hurry!
Democracy isn't a guarantee of justice. It's a game board. Learn the rules and start playing!
If the Dems seem timid, it's because of the 900 pound gorilla in the room - right wing corporate and religious media. Anyone who holds elected office is subject to being publicly slimed.. anytime, anywhere, for the slightest misstep.
Despite their small majority in Congress, the Dems are still in a weak position on the larger political playing board. Reid and Pelosi are moving their pieces slowly and cautiously... but steadily.
Instead of sniping at them, figure out how you can help.
Have you written a letter to your local newspaper / TV / radio station this month?
If you haven't seen the movie "Amazing Grace", rent it soon. It portrays very well how slow and frustrating England's progress was in the fight to outlaw the slave trade. It's a good political primer... and inspiring, too.
jjohnjj
Thank you very much for advocating the continuous support of the status quo. Now go collect your check from the RNC and sign off
I agree with jjohnjj. Who knows how Kucinich would act if he had something to lose? He and Gravel know they have no chance to win so they can say whatever they want. They are playing at being presidential candidates.
And who knows what Pelosi really believes or really wants to do? Her moves and her statements are severely restricted by her position and her knowledge of all the political repercussions of the actions she takes.
There is a name for the Bush movement and the three separate forces you mentioned. It is called Fascism.
I too, doubt whether the corporate owned Democrats will make any difference. In fact, I suspect that after four or eight years of trying to clean up the terrible mess created by the fascist, the fascist creators will return to power again.
One of the great myths of American culture is that the U.S. will remain on top forever. History proves that NO empire survives forever. We are not witnessing the decline of America, we are witnessing the fall. Nothing can stop it. The only question now is will Americans choose a soft landing leading to a socialist equitable culture, or a crash leading to totalitarianism and oligarchy.
This article is too optimistic. Although the party itself may suffer, its ideas, especially bigotry (racism, misogyny) and arrogance or apathy in foreign affairs (Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur), seem to be thriving like never before.
I also agree that we are witnessing the fall of the US empire. The Reagan Revolution concentrated on fundamentally destroying our democracy by making the public susceptive to mass deception and control: gutting public education, spurring anti-intellectualism, endorsing the Fairness Doctrine (spawning the era of hate broadcast on public airwaves), slandering the press ruthlessly, and slashing funding for PBS and NPR, making us far more dependent on corporate news. How can we possibly recover, especially after the Bush-whacking we (and the rest of the world) have endured?
This article is complete and utter hogwash! The "Bushies" did not just pop into existence 6 years ago. This whole movement is a long time in the making, where did Rummy,Cheney and the the others get their start? Reagan? Nixon? Anybody remember the PNAC?
You know what? Bill Clinton did more to move this country rightward than any of them. Clinton passed NAFTA and founded the DLC to pander to corporate interests. Democrats are not going to save us form corporatism, they are as complicit as the Repugs, two sides of the same bad coin. And now the Demoncrats want to woo the right wing religious fanatics.
I'll tell you something else, regardless of polls and perceptions of changing public opinions, there are still plenty of brainwashed Bush supporters who love our great president and thank god for making him president instead of that despicable liberal Al Gore.
I agree with doodahman, Beinhart should shut the f**k up!
Actually I think Bill Clinton was the best Republican president this country ever had!
"What is astonishing is how rapidly their ideas are being revealed as bankrupt."
"What is astonishing is how rapidly their ideas are being revealed as bankrupt."
A most relevant point. Today we have mounds of evidence that militarism, laissez-faire capitalism, neoliberalism, globalization, privatization, "green revolution" agriculture and fossil fuel DO NOT WORK. These are grounds for a REVOLUTION. The only idea we need is this: POWER TO THE PEOPLE. So progressives, what is the revolutionary accomplishment of the day?? Wean ourselves off gasoline yet? Yahh? Naa?
"These are grounds for a REVOLUTION. The only idea we need is this: POWER TO THE PEOPLE."
Not in this country, the tradition is to accept everything.
IMHO, exploitation itself is a good ground for revolution.
Nader for Pres. in 2008. He is the only one I would consider good for the people. We have him to thank for going up against the Corporations and the Government and getting us Seat Belts, Air Bags, and all kinds of other great things that are too numerous to mention. Look up Nader's Raiders, see for yourself that this is the only man who stood up FOR THE PEOPLE when we need him. He has made changes for us that no one else out there has done.
Sure some were great Mayors and politicians but what have they done for the greater good?
I don't think enough was presented to the public when Nader ran. I know I knew very little about him and his work, being born in 1970, but once I started to research a little, how could I not have been taught about him in school? I guess the same way we were taught little about the Vietnam and the protests and everything....
Most of the Democratic nomination seekers were falling over themselves to see who would be the fastest to retaliate in response to a hypothetical terrorist attack. There is little reason not to believe that another warmonger will be elected President.
This has been going on for well over 20 years now! Ronald Reagan took the party to the far right when he allowed far right religious nuts to take over the Republican party! And they gained 'most favored status' in the party! They adopted most of the religious nut's policies. There were a lot of us who used to vote Republican who crossed the stream to the Democrat's then. We didn't like the direction he was taking the Republican's. And saw them for what they were then...people determined to destroy democarcy in this country. It just finally came to a head when George W Bush came to office. He is what I call 'scraping the bottom of the barrel'! There can't be any doubts in most people's minds (except maybe a fanatical Republican's) that something evil has taken over the party! I just hope that most American's have learned their hard earned lesson with George W Bush!
Let's take this one step further. It's clear we don't have "free markets". It might even be argued that the term is, intrinsically, an oxymoron. We don't really have capitalism either, since the fundamental nature of the Iraq war, our Military Industrial Complex, the boondoggling of SDI, S&L, Superfund, bailouts of one kind or the other, ad infinitum, is all about the forced (i.e. legislated/mandated) funneling of tax dollars into well-connected private/corporate pockets. Toss in globalization, the big boxes, etc. and yes, indeed, we land at a corporo-government fascistic hybrid.
But the more I ponder it, the more I doubt whether "corporotism" is an applicable ideology in the first place (setting aside right vs. wrong for a moment) in the sense that other -isms (right or wrong) are ideologies.
Namely, the corporotism isn't about "whatever makes money is right" for just anyone. Because, clearly, there are gross asymmetries in the money-making vector. The big boxes make money from us, leech wealth from communities (distance economies that they represent), etc.
And so the real culprit, behind corporotism, may be that whatever further centralizes wealth, subtracts it from the many and gives it to the few, is correct. Indeed, it's worse than this -- the subtraction is important. If people ever "get on top" of the cost of real estate relative to their incomes, they'd be able to quit being dependent to a much larger degree on employers, the corporations, etc. Have more time to possibly start their own businesses, be able to afford shop/store space, fix & make things, do home projects, etc.
So corporotism has these additional sides: (1) money increase only for a select few and (2) it requires an ongoing economic displacement of the majority.
The neocons and fundamentalist christians and corporatists all have one thing in common, they believe in and support authoritarianism. This is their defining characteristic.
Bush may say he supports democracy, but he doesn't know what the word means. All of his actions point to a belief in authoritarianism - he doesn't care what the american people want, or about UN agreements, he doesn't even care what the constitution says - the rules/laws don't apply to him. He's not going to negociate with the dems or with other countries. He doesn't care what the Iraqis want - he doesn't care if they want the US to establish a withdrawl timetable - he just cares about getting control of their oil reserves, and having a strong position to go after Iran next. He is the decider, he is the leader - and he knows what is best.
Fundamentalist christians are very similar - they believe that God is outside of them - God is the authority figure that rules their lives. Whatever is in the bible, whatever their pastor says, they must "obey". They also believe the man is the head of the family and that the women and children must "obey" him. They support Bush because he stands up for "God's Law" against abortion, stem cell research and gay rights. He is God's representative at the government level.
Corporatists accept a similar authoritarian structure - they do what the corporate president says. Corporate leadership decides what is to be done and everyone falls in line - if they want to keep their jobs that is. Decisions are based largely on how to extract the most profit. In a way, Money is their ultimate authority. It's just fine to exploit people, to exploit nature, as long as more money can be made.
Progressives/Greens support decentralized control and social democracy. Spiritually oriented individuals honor the spirit within all people, all life and in nature. Progressive businesses understand that profit must be balanced with employee rights and job enrichment, sustainable business practices and community service. It's a viewpoint that understands that we are all interconnected, that we all are inherently valuable and worthy.
I think that awareness is growing globally that authoritarianism is unjust and simply doesn't work. Even some authoritarians are realizing that because it works for a small percentage of the population but not for all, it is not sustainable; sooner or later the exploited will revolt. I don't think the authoritarians are going to just give up and go away. But it does appear that the authoritarian viewpoint is waining, and none too soon if life is to continue on our planet.
jonthenet
Ever heard of Timothry McVeigh?
Every religion has it's underbelly. You can't judge a religion based solely on its extremists and frauds. Most Christians and Muslims are quite sane and don't believe in hurting anyone.
I honestly do not believe that Bush and Co. are truly God-fearing Christians. They act like they are just to pander to the bible-thumpers and to make it seem as if they are "the good guys". They're just hustlers. Bush is a phony. Most people who get on tv and proudly proclaim themselves as "Born Again" are full of it.
The Democrats are like the traditional parties of Venezuela ADECO and COPEI, they are like the Socialist Workers Party of Spain, they are socialist in names but not real socialists. What the US needs is an alternative united movement to change this country from fascism to a humanist democracy and only a real vanguard united front with a working class program can do that. If the party is not a proletarian party it will not democratize the country
Chances of a third party are none to nil. best chance is for real americans to find truly independent candidates and have them run as dems for congressional reps. This will start the take back of our country. dems have a real chance to form a coalition that will bring back into the party reagan dems, non-dogmatic christians, environmentalists and independents.dems have a real advantage cause cause they tend to be more tolerant than the gop of different political views. they should use that - the point is not to have everybody agree 100% but to be able to control the agenda so that flag burning and gay marriage aren't the only things on the floor.
"The true believers really believed that simply by having people vote for a democratic-style government and sweeping away all restrictions on free markets, a little America would instantly emerge -- stable, friendly, prosperous, the envy of its neighbors."
Not to put too fine a point on it, but what they really wanted was a puppet government to keep a lid on things while they took the oil. Saddam Hussein's iron fist without Saddam Hussein.
Currently, however, chaos seems to be serving the corporate interests of Big Oil, Halliburton, Blackwater, etc., as billions of dollars have been 'lost' and a fortune in unmetered, untraceable oil is being pumped from southern Iraq and carted away on unmarked tankers. If Bush withdraws the troops, all that profit ends, as American troops and the private armies such as Blackwater will no longer be there to guard our theft of Iraq's only profitable natural resource and the pillaging of the US taxpayer to benefit Mr. Bush's friends, family and major campaign contributors.
"It is almost impossible to overstate how disastrous the eight years of Bush are going to turn out to be for the Republican Party and for the right."
Absolutely correct, Bush and the GOP are now in the statistical range of Nixon during Watergate, but our voting systems have become so corrupted by GOP finagling that we can never get rid of this curse of the neocons, always magically coming up with 51 percent in close elections, unless the Dems start to make that an issue. "It was all those values voters coming out to the polls at the last minute, Wolf." Uh huh.
The results of the 2006 election were heartening, but not enough to override Bush's vetoes. The Dems, however, for the most part are ignoring the issues of tainted voting machines and disenfranchised voters. It might lead one to believe they really are just one side of the same coin of the realm.
"Fascism is definitely and absolutely opposed to the doctrines of liberalism, both in the political and economic sphere."
-- Benito Mussolini, "The Doctrine of Fascism," Firenze: Vallecchi Editore, 1935. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatism
"'Liberal' comes from the Latin liberalis, which means pertaining to a free man. In politics, to be liberal is to want to extend democracy through change and reform. One can see why that word had to be erased from our political lexicon."
-- Gore Vidal, "The Decline and Fall of the American Empire."[Posted here at Common Dreams.]